Never Enter The Mansion
by APHHondaKiku
Summary: A HetaOni rewrite. Rated T for blood and angst. Warning: character death.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N Hey, everyone! I'm APHHondaKiku, and I love Hetalia and HetaOni! So I decided to do a rewrite. This will have more angst and stuff, and there will be character death. I'm not the best writer, but I'll try my best! I'd really like it if you took the time to review!)**

The first deaths were Spain and Romano. Sure, everyone had been injured several times by the Thing, but not fatally wounded. Italy was the one who found them, lying in a pool of their blood. This horrific sight immediately triggered a scream of terror from him, drawing the other nations to the scene.

"What happened?" Germany demanded, bursting into the room. "Wh-" He stopped when he saw the two mangled bodies on the floor. "O-oh...oh...mein Gott..."

"What's going on?" America joined him, followed by the rest of the Allied Forces, Japan, and Prussia. They all paused when they caught sight of Romano and Spain.

No one knew what to say at first. Italy snapped out of his stupor, ran over to Germany, and buried his face in the older nation's chest, sobbing uncontrollably. This action seemed to wake everyone up; France and Canada turned around and vomited, China, Russia, and England gazed sadly at the victims, Japan tried to calm Italy down, and America, Prussia, and Germany moved forward to examine the corpses.

Italy sunk to his knees, muttering to himself. "I...I failed...I couldn't save them...I have to start over again..."

"Italy, I'm sorry...but I do not understand what you're going on about." Japan said.

"N-nevermind. I was just...talking to myself."

"Are you ok?" Japan put a hand on Italy's shoulder. He wasn't exactly sure what to say to his ally.

"I'm fine." Italy shrugged his hand off and turned away.

America came back to the awaiting nations with a grim face. "It was definitely the Thing that killed them. They were both stabbed through the chest, so they didn't suffer for long. But there were also slashes on the rest of their bodies, indicating that they went down fighting. My guess is that-"

"Shut up! We don't want to know what they look like! We don't want to hear how bloody the battle was! Just shut up!" Italy snapped, getting up and glaring coldly at America.

Everyone stared at him, stunned. Italy _never _rose his voice, much less told someone to shut up.

"Italy...?" America finally got out.

The Italian's amber eyes softened and he turned his attention to the ground. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you like that.

"...it's ok. I understand. You just lost your brother. I can't even begin to imagine what that would be like," America sympathized, glancing at Canada, who still looked sick.

Germany and Prussia threw some sheets over the bodies to hide them from view. Everyone watched with grief as the white covers slowly turned red.

"We...we'll...we'll remove them," Germany offered after a few minutes of silence. "Prussia and I will. The rest of you can go back to the safe room."

"No. He is...was...my brother. I'll help you," Italy volunteered, ignoring the surprised looks from everyone else.

"Ok. Thank you. We'll make something to eat," America said, knowing full well that no one would have the stomach to eat anything anyway. He headed for the door and motioned for the others to follow.

Prussia and Germany picked Spain up and started to carry him away, leaving Italy alone with the remains of his brother. He pulled back the bloody sheet to see Romano's face one last time. Actually, it didn't seem like he was dead. It looked like he was simply asleep. Perhaps he spilled pasta sauce on himself again, resulting in the stained uniform.

"Oh, Romano...did you make a mess of yourself again? Germany isn't going to be happy if you got sauce all over the kitchen floor." Italy brushed some stray hairs out of Romano's face and smiled fondly. "Do you remember when I accidentally spilled that bowl of pasta on the carpet? He sure was mad that time. But you told him to leave me alone. Do you remember that?"

Romano, of course, didn't answer.

Italy frowned. His brother looked...unhappy. Uncomfortable. Troubled. "What's wrong, Romano?" A bit of paper sticking out of Romano's chest pocket caught his eye. With a trembling hand, he pulled it out and opened it.

_Italy,_

_I'm gonna be dead by the time you read this. Spain and I, we tried to fight the Thing alone, but it defeated us. Don't cry. Don't let our deaths be for nothing. Find a way out of here. Move forward, Italy. I think I see Grandpa Rome now...I have to go. Spain's waiting for me, too. Give the others my regards (even that potato bastard). Good luck._

_Love, Romano_

The message was sloppily written in blood. A few tears trickled down Italy's face, but he wiped them away. He knew exactly what to do; he had to rewind time again.

Just then, Germany and Prussia returned. Italy crammed the note into his pocket and yanked the sheet over Romano's face.

_I'll see you again soon, brother. Alive, _Italy thought.

**(A/N I hope you liked it! Don't expect updates to be too fast...I'm kind of lazy sometimes.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry for the slow update...but don't expect them to be much faster than this. Thank you to all those who reviewed, favorited, and alerted! This chapter could be a bit boring...but next chapter will be more interesting. WAAAAY more interesting. Also, my friend got me into Higurashi. IT'S SO MUCH LIKE HETAONI. 0_0 Anyway, that's about it. Enjoy~**

"Thank you for helping, Italy," Germany said, his voice lacking its usual gruffness. They had just carried Romano's body out together. "Let's go back." He and Prussia started to leave.

Italy didn't move from his spot. "G-Germany...there's something...something I have to do."

Germany stopped and turned back to the Italian. "...ok. I'll come with you. Prussia, you can go back." Prussia nodded and continued walking.

"N-no...I have to do it...alone."

"But it's dangerous! What if you're attacked by the Thing?"

"I...I'll be fine. I promise."

"Italy, you're not going alone. That's final," Germany said firmly.

"...nevermind. Let's just go back to the room." Italy brushed past him, headed for the safe room.

Germany watched his friend for a moment before following. Just what was going through his head?

Italy realized the others would never let him go alone. He had to get to the clock so he could rewind time, but he knew everyone else wouldn't understand. They would try to stop him. If only there was a way to isolate himself, make it so they couldn't come after him...

His head jerked up. The cell! He could lock them in there! Sure, they would be mad, but it wouldn't matter after he rewound time. They wouldn't remember anything. It was perfect.

* * *

><p>When Germany and Italy returned to the safe room, they were met by unbearable grief, pity, and tension that seemed to hang in the air. Everyone was sitting silently on their beds, which were still shoved against the wall.<p>

"S-sorry...we didn't cook anything...no one was hungry," Canada said.

"That's ok." Germany looked around at the saddened faces of his comrades. "So...should we...move the beds back in place?"

They all exchanged glances.

"W-we can't...there...there are only 10 beds, remember? N-not enough..." Italy choked out. He could barely contain a wince at his childish statement.

The others regarded him with sympathy.

"He's...right. Let's leave them where they are," America decided.

"...ok. Well...what are we going to do now?" Germany asked.

"We could explore the basement," Japan suggested.

"That's a good idea. We haven't been down there yet. So we have our plan in place for tomorrow?"

Everyone murmured their quiet agreement.

"Good. We should get some sleep."

Silently, the nations settled into their spots on the floor. Italy was always between Japan and Germany, but he moved away from everyone else that night.

Germany sent him a glance of concern before lying down by Japan and Prussia.

"He's probably just grieving. Give him time," said Japan.

"Yeah. West, he just lost his brother. Imagine if I died. Heck, I might die anyway," Prussia put in.

Germany jackknifed upright and glared at him. "No! We're going to get out of here! All of us!"

The other nations jumped at his sudden outburst, except for Italy, whose back was to everyone else.

"He's right. We're all going to get out," Italy agreed without turning around. "Every last one of us."

No one answered.

"Oh, yes, Romano says hi." With that, he fell silent.

The remaining countries exchanged glances, then slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Germany woke up to a noise in the kitchen. Grabbing his gun, he went to investigate, only to find Italy cooking something.<p>

"Italy...? What are you doing up this early?" he asked.

"Making breakfast," Italy answered. "No one ate anything last night. I figured they would be hungry."

Germany said nothing for a moment. Italy was never up before he was. "Oh...well, thanks. I'll go wake the others up." He poked his head around the corner. "Hey...get up. Breakfast is almost ready."

That roused everyone. They got up and crowded around the table, a few of them making attempts at conversation.

Germany turned back to Italy. "Uh...Italy..."

"Yes?"

"You...you've been acting...strange. Even before Romano's death. You seem...well, braver. But more distant. Cold. It's just not...you."

Italy paused. "...I see. It's true that I've changed. But I don't understand; you want me to toughen up, and then when I do, you don't like it?"

"...truthfully, I don't. You're the happy guy who's always smiling. Maybe you aren't the best fighter, maybe you need protection, but you're yourself."

"But I'm sick of being the idiot who always needs someone to defend him. This is for the best."

"...there's something you're not telling us."

"What makes you think that?"

Germany sighed. "Italy, we've been allies for decades. I can read you like a book."

He didn't answer.

"Look, I'm not going to force you to tell me. But don't do anything stupid. Got it?"

Italy swallowed nervously. "R-right. Anyway, breakfast is ready."

Germany shot him a look at the quick change of subjects, but dismissed the matter for the moment. He grabbed dishes for everyone, and Italy carried the mountain of pancakes he had made to the table.

"All right!" America punched a fist in the air, picked up his fork, and dug in.

"Is...is there any maple syrup?" Canada asked hopefully. Italy smiled and handed him a bottle.

France, England, China, Russia, Prussia, Japan, and Germany reluctantly ate a bit, but tension knotted their stomachs. Italy sat quietly, poking his pancake with his fork, but not eating.

"So are we gonna split into groups to explore or what?" America asked between bites.

"Don't talk while you're eating! It's disgusting!" England snapped.

"I'd rather watch that than have to eat your cooking!" France piped up.

"Shut it, wanker! Do you want another 100 Years' War?"

"G-guys...let's stop fighting..." Canada said, knowing exactly where this was going. No one listened.

"Actually, this is quite amusing to watch." Russia smiled.

"Be quiet, commie bastard!" America shouted.

"He's not communist anymore, you know, aru..." China said.

"...I think Canada-san has a point..." Japan said.

"Kesese, let them fight, Japan! This is pretty awesome to watch!" Prussia cut in.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Germany yelled, effectively quieting everyone down.

Italy felt like crying. In the last time loop, they had formed a pact to stop fighting until they got out. They had all stuck to it, not letting past disagreements get in the way of trying to escape. It was pointless to try to do the same thing now; time was going to be rewound yet again and they wouldn't remember it.

"We can split into groups; America, Canada, France, and England, you should explore the western part of the basement. Russia and China, you get the middle. Me, Japan, Prussia, and Germany will look around the eastern part," Italy suggested.

The others stared at him for a moment. They still weren't quite used to this new Italy, but his plan made sense.

"Yeah! Let's do this thing!" America said, wiping a sleeve across his mouth. "And I can lead the group, because I'm the hero!" The three nations on his team rolled their eyes but said nothing. "Come on, guys!" He marched out the door, followed by Canada, France, and England.

"We should head out too, da?" Russia grinned innocently at China, who was mentally cursing out Italy for putting him with Russia. Nonetheless, the pair left for the basement, leaving Italy, Japan, Prussia, and Germany alone.

"Well, let's get going then!" Prussia announced, started towards the door.

"Wait. I have something to say." Italy kept his eyes trained intently on the ground. "No matter...no matter what happens down there...we'll still be friends. Right?"

"Of course we'll be friends, Ita-chan," Japan answered.

"He's right. Friendship lasts through anything," Germany agreed, worried about what Italy meant about 'no matter what happens down there'.

"Kesese, we're gonna be fine! No one would dare mess with my awesomeness!" Prussia said.

"Th-thank you." Italy smiled serenely. Maybe they would be mad about him having to lock them up, but they would still be friends. Not that it would make a difference after a few hours; they wouldn't remember anything in the next time loop.

Italy's question answered, the group headed to the basement.


	3. Chapter 3

"A...tunnel?" Japan asked in disbelief. Sure enough, the eastern door of the basement led into a long, dim tunnel.

"Huh. What a strange thing to put in a house. Anyway, this is our section to explore, so let's go," Germany said, taking the lead.

The nations started walking through the darkness in silence. Ten minutes later, Germany ran directly into a wall.

"Shit!" He rubbed his sore nose, which was luckily still in one piece. "Is this a turn or a dead end?"

Japan cautiously took a few steps to the left, Prussia mirroring him to the right.

"The path continues this way, I believe," Japan announced. They kept going.

They had only gone about thirty feet before they hit another wall. It was Japan who took the blow this time. He felt around, discovering that there were walls to the left and right. "It's a dead end," he said finally.

"Did we miss a turn somewhere?" Italy asked. "It's awfully dark...we might have passed some openings.

No one had time to answer.

"Oof!" Prussia was thrown into the wall behind him by some invisible force that slashed his chest. Ribs were obviously broken, there was a deep cut, and the air was knocked clean out of him.

"Prussia-san! Are you ok?" Japan asked. Prussia had landed right next to him.

"The...the Thing! Guys, run!" the albino gasped.

"We're not leaving you!" Germany and Italy snapped at the same time.

The hiss of metal sounded as Japan drew his katana. "We have to fight."

Germany grabbed his gun, and Italy pulled out a long knife.

"Italy...you have a weapon?" Germany asked.

"Yeah. I got a knife," Italy answered.

"How long have you had that?"

"A while."

Their discussion was cut short by the Thing lunging at them. Japan stabbed it in the stomach and Germany shot at it, but neither the blade nor the bullets seemed to do much damage. The Thing shot a strange ball of light at them. They dodged it just in time, but the ball of energy smashed the wall mere inches above Prussia's head, blasting him a few feet away and cutting him with debris.

Japan and Germany kept fighting, but the Thing barely seemed injured, and they were getting tired. All of a sudden, Italy jumped on it from behind. It froze and started struggling with the Italian, trying to shake him off. The Thing shot beams of energy every which way, some of them hitting dangerously near Japan, Germany, and Prussia, but Italy refused to let go.

"Italy, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Germany demanded as the bolts lit up the dark cavern, allowing him to see that Italy was climbing on its shoulders.

"Its forehead...is its weak spot!" Italy plunged his knife into the creature's head and leapt off of it. The Thing collapsed immediately.

Japan, Germany, and Italy stood panting for moment.

"How did you know where to stab it?" Germany asked.

"I...uh...I just had this gut feeling," Italy answered nervously.

Germany didn't believe it for a second. "Right." He turned to Prussia. "Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah...I'm fine, West." His voice was barely a whisper. "Let's just get out of here before something else finds us."

Germany and Japan each grabbed one of Prussia's arms to support him. Italy took the lead. It was slow going as they carefully retraced their steps, but they were eventually rewarded with light flooding from the doorway from which they had entered.

They emerged from the tunnel and leaned Prussia against a wall. His nose and forehead were bleeding and there was blood trickling from his mouth. He had a gash down his chest as well as several smaller cuts on the rest of his body.

Japan and Germany had a few scrapes and bruises but nothing serious. Italy seemed alright, too.

"W-West..." Prussia croaked, barely conscious. "I think I'm gonna die."

"No! Don't give up yet!" Germany pleaded.

Italy said nothing. He had seen his friends die enough so that he could tell it was too late for the albino man.

"I'm sorry, but I'm defeated. I guess my awesomeness wasn't enough." Prussia smiled bitterly. "Don't try to save me; just let me go."

Germany looked at his brother with genuine pain, then glanced at Italy and Japan. He sat down next to Prussia. "Then I'm going to stay with you until the end. Italy, Japan, go meet up with the others. Tell them what happened. I'll catch up with you later."

"But what if the Thing comes back?" Japan asked.

"Then I'll scream at the top of my lungs and you can come save me."

"But-"

"Now go before I make you run ten laps."

"He'll do it," Prussia added.

Japan nodded and gave a respectful bow to Prussia before he and Italy left.

"Italy's not himself," Prussia observed after a moment of silence.

"I know. I'm not sure what's on his mind, or what he's planning to do," Germany said. "Everyone knows something is wrong with him."

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"Yes, but he won't tell me anything."

"Well, make sure he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else...and give Hungary and my remaining Bad Touch Trio member my regards."

"I will."

"And tell that old grouch Austria that he needs to lighten up a bit."

"Agreed."

"Thanks." Prussia winced. "Ugh. Dying sucks. Why didn't that bastard just finish me off back there?"

"If he had done that, we couldn't have had this heart-to-heart conversation."

"Now you just sound like England."

"If you weren't dying, I would punch you for that."

"But, hey, I am. Maybe dying isn't so bad after all."

"That's not funny."

"Lighten up a little; neither of us likes these emotional moments."

"Sorry."

"You never change."

"And neither do you. Even when you are dying."

"Speaking of which...I'm not sure I'm going to- or want to- be able to hold on much longer. Any last words you want to say to me?"

"...I'm not sure there is much to be said at this point."

"Oh, come on, not even a brotherly 'I love you'? Anyway, keep an eye on Italy. I'm actually worried about the little guy."

"I will."

"You have to get out of here. I know you will."

"We'll try."

"Good." Prussia closed his eyes and his breathing slowed down. "Well, that's it. Goodbye, West."

"Wait, one more thing."

"What?"

"I love you."

Prussia smiled contentedly. "Thanks, bro. Right back at ya." Those were the last words he ever said.

**...damn...sorry, Prussia...DX **


	4. Chapter 4

Italy and Japan had found everyone else assembled in the first room of the basement. They explained what happened and how Germany insisted on staying with his brother in his final moments.

"Another one, dead," America said quietly.

"Is it just going to pick us off, one by one, until we're all gone, aru?" China asked.

"So far, that's what it looks like," answered Japan.

This was met by silence. The concept of watching their friends die one by one was nearly impossible to comprehend, except to Italy.

Just then, the door opened and Germany walked in. "He's gone."

Once again, no one knew what to say. Italy broke the ice by getting up and hugging him. The others offered their condolences as well.

"Thank you. But right now, we have more important things to worry about, namely getting out of here so this doesn't happen again," Germany said. "What did everyone find?"

"There's not much in the eastern part except a locked door. I think we need a key," America reported.

"We looked around for one, but we couldn't find anything," Canada added.

"But the good news is, we didn't get attacked by the Thing. We didn't even see it," England said.

"I think we should try to get find out what's in that room, though," decided France.

"Yes, we'll all go there after this meeting and see what we can find," Germany said. "What did you discover, Russia and China?"

"There are just a few small rooms. We took a look around in them, but there wasn't anything of interest, aru," China answered.

"Da, just a bunch of old books. Nothing useful," Russia said. "Did you guys find anything?"

"There was a long, dark tunnel. We walked through it, but we only found a dead end. I think you guys know what happened after that," Germany explained.

"So in other words, none of us found anything that could help us escape?" Japan clarified.

"It would appear so. But I do want to take a look at that door America and the others found."

"Well, let's go then. Follow me," America said.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, America, England, France, Canada, Russia, China, Germany, Japan, and Italy were all assembled at the locked door in the eastern section of the basement. Germany first tried the handle, inspected the lock, and then threw a well-placed kick at the door. He succeeded in nothing but injuring his foot.<p>

"Can I try?" Italy asked.

"Go ahead," Germany muttered angrily, massaging his sore foot.

Italy pulled a key out of his pocket, stuck it in the lock, and turned it. _Click. _He opened the door and stood back to allow everyone to get in.

"Why didn't you tell us about that earlier?" Germany demanded.

Italy shrugged. "No one asked. I took it from the Thing back in the tunnel."

Everyone stared at him incredulously. They clearly didn't believe him, but they had no other explanation.

"Well, the door's open now, so let's go." America stepped into the room, followed by everyone else.

Italy let out a sigh of relief. He had actually found the key in the second time loop, and it somehow stayed in his pocket even after he rewound time. And now all he had to do was get them into the cell, close the door, find the key to get him into the clock room, and turn back time. He walked in behind Germany.

The room was fairly large, but something was strange; half of it was a cell. The cell door was on the far left side, and the cell itself took up the entire upper half of the room.

"What the heck?" America exclaimed, summing up everyone's thoughts. "Why is there a prison in here?"

"Hey...what's that box in the corner of it?" Italy asked, pointing. Sure enough, in the back right corner of the cell, there was a normal-sized wooden box.

"Let's go check it out." America opened the barred door and went in. England, France, Canada, China, and Russia followed after a moment of hesitation. Japan shot a slightly distrustful look at Italy, but entered the cell. They all gathered around the box. Germany stood before the open door, not going in.

"Hey, Italy..." Germany turned to his ally. "I-"

All of a sudden, Italy lunged, shoving Germany straight into the cell. He landed hard on his back, momentarily dazed. Italy slammed the door shut.

Germany leapt to his feet and grabbed the door, adrenaline knotting his stomach. He had known Italy had changed, but he never expected this..."Italy! What the hell are you doing? Let us out!"

"I knew you'd be mad..." Italy mused. "But it won't matter soon. You can open the box if you want, but it's going to be empty. Also, don't waste your energy trying to get out; the door is locked from the outside."

The other countries bolted to the front of the cell.

"Italy..." Japan said quietly, gazing sadly at his friend through the bars.

"I'm sorry, everyone, it was the only way," Italy apologized.

This was met by several cries of, "Let us out!" or "Why are you doing this?".

"There's...there's something I have to do. Alone. You wouldn't understand. You would try to stop me from going. That's why I have to lock you up."

For a brief moment, England knew exactly what Italy was talking about, but the feeling passed before he could make sense of anything. Canada, France, China, America, and Russia just glared at the Italian. It was the look on Germany and Japan's faces that killed Italy the most; Japan's held nothing but grief, Germany's nothing but outrage.

Tears formed in Italy's eyes. Even after he started to walk away, he could feel the imprisoned countries watching him with mixed looks of surprise, anger, and pity.

Germany could tell by the slight tremor in Italy's shoulders that he was crying.

**I was actually screaming at the computer during the scene where Italy locks everyone in the cell. But I suppose I'm not the only one...review?**


	5. Chapter 5

Italy shut the door to the room behind him and leaned against the wall. "They were all so mad at me..." He wanted to go right back in there and let them all out, but he knew he couldn't.

"Only one thing left to do." With that, he started on the search for the key.

* * *

><p>America threw himself against the cell door again, trying to break it down. He had been doing that for about ten minutes without even a hint of the door weakening.<p>

"America, you're just going to hurt yourself! Knock it off!" England ordered.

America paused, rubbing his sore shoulder. "No, we have to get out of here. I'm gonna strangle that little traitor!" He continued ramming into the door with renewed vigor.

England and Canada grabbed his arms and pulled him away.

"You need to learn how to keep a cool head in situations like this!" England snapped.

"He's right. You know that's not going to get us out of here, and you're just going to wind up with an injured arm. That's not very good for fighting, is it?" Canada added.

"...yes. I'm sorry for losing my temper," America finally responded.

"Idiot," England muttered.

"Shut up."

"Now is not a good time for fighting," France cut in.

China and Russia, meanwhile, were sitting silently, waiting for someone to come up with an idea.

Japan was watching Germany, who was in the corner staring at the wall, with concern. He took a seat next to his ally.

"...I wonder if he's going to come back for us," Germany finally said.

"I'm sure he will. He won't let us die in here; you saw how worked up he was," Japan answered.

"But he's changed so much...I hope you're right."

Neither one of them said anything for a few moments.

"It's hard," Germany said. "Everyone expects me to be the strong one."

"But you are the strong one. You're a great fighter and very brave."

"Yes, but sometimes...it seems people are scared of me, or they don't think I have feelings."

Japan wasn't sure what to say to that.

"You, Italy, and Prussia were the only ones who seemed to understand me. But Prussia's dead and Italy's gone now. And no offense, but I can never tell what you're thinking," Germany continued.

"None taken. I've been told that several times before," said Japan.

"At least people aren't scared of you. You're quite the fighter yourself, but you're not especially intimidating."

"Yes. The only reason I don't have many friends is I'm too shy."

"We're both lonely for different reasons."

"This is the first time you've ever talked about your feelings."

"I know. I'm pathetic."

"No, you're not. You just hide your feelings too much."

"Well, so do you."

"I have none to hide."

"...I don't believe you."

"It's true. Neither of us show our emotions often. I don't because I don't have intense feelings, but you don't because you always keep a brave face on for everyone."

"Japan, you puzzle me. I can never tell what you're thinking, yet you somehow seem to know me better than I know myself."

Japan just smiled.

Germany got up. "Well, big, strong Germany is back, so let's find a way out of here!"

Japan nodded and rose.

"'Bout time you snapped out of it!" America said. "Now how are we gonna get out of here?"

"Actually, Russia had an idea, aru," China said.

"Da. We could create a 'human pyramid'. If we got just one person out, they could let the rest of us out," Russia explained.

"That's actually not a bad idea," England said.

"Let's try it." Germany stepped to the front of the cage and dropped to his hands and knees. Russia did the same next to him. America climbed carefully on top of them, taking up the same position.

"Japan, you're the lightest, but you're kinda short...hey, Canada, get over here and stand on my back," America ordered.

"O-ok..." Canada came over to the human pyramid, looking somewhat uncertain.

"Aw, just do it, we'll be fine."

"Sorry about this, guys." Canada sighed, but stepped onto his brother's back.

Germany and Russia's arms were trembling slightly with the effort of supporting two people, and America grunted as Canada's foot dug into the small of his back.

"Hey, watch where you step!" he growled.

"S-sorry..." Canada edged a little closer to the bars, reached up, and found his fingertips just barely brushed the top railing, but he couldn't grab it. "I can't reach!"

America arched his back as much as he could, but it wasn't quite enough. "You're gonna have to jump."

"...ok..."

Germany, Russia, and America braced themselves as Canada launched himself up, catching the top of the cell. "Got it!" he announced, trying to pull himself up. America got down, and Germany and Russia crawled out of the way.

"...ugh...this is hard..." Canada gasped, unable to get himself up.

America grabbed his feet and tried give him a boost, but it didn't work. "You're heavy!"

"B-be quiet, America," he grumbled.

Russia appeared behind America, smiling innocently. "Let me try, da?"

"...fine. But if you try anything, you stupid commie..." America warned.

"Don't even start!" England yanked America out of the way.

Russia easily boosted Canada up and over the cell wall. "There."

"Thanks," Canada squeaked, now hanging onto the top railing, dangling from the other side. He dropped to the ground, shaking a little bit.

"Yes!" America punched a fist in the air. "Now let us outta here!"

Canada opened the cell door, freeing everyone. Their moment of victory was short-lived, however; the nations sobered at the thought of what they had to do next.

Most of them were angry and confused but somewhat regretful that Italy, innocent, childish Italy, was now their enemy.

America voiced what everyone was thinking: "Let's get him."

**Yeah, weird way to get out...wasn't sure what to do since Romano and Spain died. Whoops. But what the hell, they made it, didn't they? And poor Germany. He feels lonely. :( Anyway...we'll have to see what happens when they find Italy, won't we?**


End file.
